Wild flowers, perfect weather, great views and WILD FLOWERS! Camped at the trailhead for an early start.  There is a pit toilet at the parking area at the Sherman Pass Trailhead but no trashcans.  The trail was in perfect condition, one blowdown that was easy to get around.  There is a stream where the trail spits and if you go right another stream about 3/4'ish miles.  There were also 3 small springs seeping on the southern flanks but not sure those will be reliable deeper into the season.

Pleasantly surprised to find a plethora of peak blooming wildflowers on the southeastern flanks.  An absolutely incredible display, primarily lupines.  I'm sure there is not much time to catch the display so do this soon!

If you are wondering weather to go left or right at the loop intersection?  For today's hike I flipped the coin and went left.  Doesn't make any difference because you will be gaining/losing elevation either direction.   Took me about 3 1/2 hours to complete the loop but that included copious amounts of time enjoying the views and wildflowers.  An easy hike for hikers of all ages and experiences.

Nice, easy hike -not too steep.  Beautiful wild flowers this time of the year!  Lovely scenic views.  Trail is easy to follow.  

A few friends and I reserved Snow Peak cabin and hiked in from Sherman Pass using the loop. Trail head parking was closed for forest service work, they were kind enough to allow us to leave our vehicles out of the way by the restroom. If you are going I would call and find out status. Closed sign still up when we hiked out on November 2. Trail from parking lot was also closed so we walked across the street and down to get on the loop trail. Immediately hit snow 1-2 inches but being 3pm it was soft and easy to hike in. At the loop junction we went left and had some great views hiking in. We made it to the junction for Snow Peak/Trail 13 and the trail was also in great shape. Had a snowstorm Tuesday night and woke up snug in the cabin to 4/5 inches of snow. Almost all the snow was gone by the time we hiked out Friday November 2nd completing the Sherman loop trail. 

The larches were just starting to turn, the views were incredible, there was a little snow on the ground, not a big deal at all, and it snowed on me a little when I stopped for lunch!

After a slow kick-off to Hike-a-Thon, I was able to arrange to meet some other Hike-a-Thoners for a great weekend of adventure in the Columbia Highlands! 

Two of us were able to skip town mid-day on Friday to dayhike from Sherman Pass.  We were originally thinking we'd go all the way to White Mountain for some big mileage, even packing the headlamps to hike out in the dark.  However, the afternoon turned rainy with a thunderstorm!  I'm not complaining about the rain one bit, but it did cause us to turn back earlier than we intended.  We waited out part of the storm at Snow Peak cabin, chatting with a PNT east-bound thru-hiker who was also reveling in the rain and the improved conditions it brought (when driving up that afternoon, the smoke was so thick in Chewelah & Colville that I could barely see the surrounding mountains; by evening on the Crest, the air was cool & crisp & wonderful!).  While the thru-hiker headed north, we continued south for a bit, but by the time we reached the Edds Mountain trail junction it was raining hard with more thunder, so at that point we decided to call it a day.  Total mileage = 12.78 with 2,861' gain. 

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